TAMPA, Fla. — As the government shutdown nears the four-week mark, the impact on local families is growing.
In Florida, teachers and students are now feeling the strain — especially those connected to the Head Start program.
"We'll be shutting down Friday due to we don't have any more funds," said Shantell Jackson, a teacher at South City Head Start in Tallahassee.
WATCH: Florida teachers work without pay as government shutdown closes Head Start classrooms
The National Head Start Association said the shutdown is disrupting services for tens of thousands of families who rely on the federally funded programs.
Head Start is an early learning and support program for low-income families.
Jackson reached out to Tampa Bay 28 to share the struggles she is going through that began this week.
"[Our office staff] gave us the ultimatum and asked us, did we want to come, and we said yes," said Jackson. "And nobody, did not show up. All the teachers were on board."
She said all 16 teachers came into work as volunteers this week, and almost 160 students will have to find alternate ways to learn after Friday.
"It's very frustrating, because some of these kids actually need to be at Head Start," said Jackson. "We really don't know the home life of every child. We don't know if they're getting a nutritious breakfast and lunch, and we don't know if they even have toys in their homes to play with… It's just a lot going on in our heads as teachers, because we don't know."
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Annette Gutierrez called and emailed almost every Hillsborough County Head Start program, and a spokesperson with the local YMCA responded back with an email saying:
Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone available to speak on camera today.
At this time, we are not experiencing any funding challenges with our Early Head Start programs; however, that could change in the coming months.
For our other non–government–funded Early Child Learning Programs, we are providing additional flexibility for families affected by the shutdown by delaying childcare payments when needed and, in some cases, temporarily pausing payments for those experiencing financial hardship. Our priority remains ensuring that every family continues to have access to the care and support they need during this time.
If the shutdown continues, we will expand our support by offering additional community resources, such as food distributions at our YMCA family centers.
Those interested in helping families in need can make a donation by clicking here.
The National Head Start Association said by November 1, about 140 programs with more than 65,000 kids will either stop operating or continue without federal funding if the government doesn’t reopen.
For Jackson, that means she won’t be receiving a paycheck.
"I guess I would have to look for another source of income, because I have a household to run, too," said Jackson.
As for the kids, Jackson said they plan to transfer the kids to a remote learning class, but she said she worries that won’t be enough.
"We're hoping that this thing is over quickly, because the kids need Head Start, along with the parents, and along with the staff," said Jackson.
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